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  <title>Chapter 20</title>
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            <h1 class="title">Chapter 20</h1>
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          <h2 class="subtitle">Belah</h2>
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      <p class="first first-in-chapter first-full-width"><span class="first-letter first-letter-b">B</span>elah was already on her knees, a place she’d once loved to be when domination was imminent. She’d rather block out the last time she’d knelt before a man, though. The instinctive reaction she’d had to Nikhil’s appearance mere days ago still confused her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Yet where Nikhil had sought her pain and complete surrender, she sensed Lukas and Iszak wished for something very different.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Both men were standing in front of her, fully clothed in their outfits from their show … which amounted to plain white tees and black denim. Even though the sweat from their bodies had dried since she’d seen them on stage, their masculine turul scents were as strong as their auras.</p>
      <p class="subsq">She held her hands up in supplication, hoping Iszak would understand the gesture. Lukas had bound her before, and loved it. She believed Iszak would want the same thing. She hadn’t spent time inside his head, but he had the raw hunger of a man who needed submission and didn’t get it nearly as often as he would prefer.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak’s throat worked for a second before a pleased smile spread across his lips. Beside him, Lukas grinned.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“That’s our girl,” Iszak said and produced a rope from his back pocket. He wound it around her wrists with methodical precision, the length gradually growing shorter, until all she saw was a row of webbed cords encircling her wrists with an artful knot at the top.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Ozzie was right,” she said, her blood humming as Iszak tightened the knot. He raised his eyebrows at her. “Normal ropes won’t hold me.” She twisted her wrists, expecting her strength to make quick work of the webbed silk cords Iszak had bound her with. They stayed solidly wrapped, only creaking the slightest amount from her effort, but not tearing. Her eyes widened.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak chuckled. “Step ahead of you, sweetness. I’ve been saving these ropes for a rainy day, and you definitely look like rain. Come,” he said, pulling at her bound hands.</p>
      <p class="subsq">She shifted off the bed and stood, swaying slightly from the after-effects of the alcohol. Turul liquor … she’d know better next time. Lukas caught her and she leaned against him, grateful for his support, and even more buzzed from the contact than from the liquor.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“You’ve turned us upside-down, baby. I hope you know that. This is just a way to balance us. There’s no fighting Fate. We need you. But we all have our own price for accepting it, don’t we?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">She turned to look up into Lukas’s eyes. The same lock of hair fell forward and she still longed to push it back, but her hands were bound by magic ropes. Instead, she tilted her head and kissed him.</p>
      <p class="subsq">He didn’t pull back, or push her away. When her lips met his, her body thrummed with power, every cell agreeing that he was hers. He moaned into her mouth, his tongue slipping between her lips and meeting the soft thrust of her own.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Another hand cupped her face, forcing her to pull away, and Iszak was there, his lips hard on hers, claiming and commanding. She melted into his kiss with the same abandon as she had Lukas’s.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Her heart raced when he pulled away, his dark eyes blazing with lust. “Lukas is the gentle one, just remember that. I’m not giving you any slack, baby—the ropes should be enough to show you that much. You’re our slave until we hear every detail of your past and come to terms with it. We’ll know when you’re lying.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">With a tug, he led her into the other room. More enchanted ropes hung from the rafters here. There were so many, the place seemed like a jungle of multi-colored cords. Her nipples tingled and hardened at the sight, as well as the understanding of what she was in for.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas’s hands rested at her waist while Iszak stepped forward into the center of their living room, where a thicker fall of ropes hung in a column from a large, metal hoop. On the floor beneath was a thick rug that resembled some kind of light-colored beast hide. It was soft and luxuriant, and Belah happily knelt in the center where Lukas commanded, just facing the ropes.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Everything that happens now is your choice, Belah,” Iszak said. He bent down and cupped her chin in his hand. He was so close. She craved another kiss, but he didn’t lean in. All he did was explain. “You can leave before I begin, and nothing else will happen. We’ll be done. You’ll go on being the monster we always believed you to be. But if you stay, we’ll break that perception into pieces. But that means breaking you, baby.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">She closed her eyes, ashamed to feel the warm trail of an errant tear fall down her cheek.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I’m already broken,” she said, her voice quavering. “I’ve been broken for three thousand years. Whatever you need to do, do.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">He seemed to flinch at her confession, but recovered swiftly. Even though she made a conscious effort to avoid using her power with them, she caught a glimmer of painful understanding in them both, and it gave her hope. Whatever the pair needed to do now, she would happily accept, especially if it helped <i>them</i> feel less broken, too.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Good girl,” Iszak finally said and stood. He gestured for his brother and Lukas came closer, accepting direction while Iszak took the ropes that dangled in front of her and made good use of all of them.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak gripped her arms and unbound them, then gently pulled them behind her, aligning her forearms one above the other across her back before wrapping them in the silken cords. His hands moved swiftly, wrapping her body and tying knots as he went. This time she could feel the subtle tingle of the magic of the ropes sinking into her skin.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak’s knuckles and fingertips brushed against her skin constantly, every touch sending fresh heat to her core, even though none of his touches were overtly sexual.</p>
      <p class="subsq">He paused behind her at one point, pushing her knees wide and threading several lengths of rope between her thighs. His fingertips slowed their progress as they passed across on either side of her aching opening, but he barely grazed her skin.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah closed her eyes, suppressing a whimper of need, sure he had to feel the heat radiating from her. The ropes pulled taut, spreading her open slightly as he looped the cords back around her upper thighs, knotted them, then secured them at the bindings that crossed like latticework beneath her navel.</p>
      <p class="subsq">His breathing was quick and hot against the back of her neck as he reached above her head to secure a new length of rope. Over her shoulder, he said to his brother, “Lukas, check that I didn’t make them too tight, will you?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas obligingly crouched in front of her, delicately adjusting his erection in his jeans and giving her a lusty smile. He started at the outer edge of the ropes that angled across the front of her hips, tracing his fingers down between the cords and her skin.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah’s breathing quickened as he moved lower, his knuckles edging along the tops of her thighs while his thumbs traced the outer edges of the ropes.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“How do they feel, Belah?” Lukas asked, his voice low and rough with desire. He swallowed and glanced down. “Too tight?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">She could only shake her head, her entire body pulsing with the pleasure of his teasing touch. He shifted his fingers, removing one hand and slipping two fingers beneath the ropes at the top of her pelvis, on the inner edge this time. The backs of his fingers slid along the top of her mound and he bent them, deliberately digging the outsides of his knuckles into her swollen clit.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Ohh,” she breathed when his knuckles bumped past her aching bud, then parted her and pressed against her hungry opening. “Not too tight,” she finally breathed.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas slipped his fingers from the ropes and made no more pretense of testing Iszak’s work. Instead, he pressed the same two digits against her opening and pushed into her depths all the way to the last knuckle. Belah threw her head back and groaned, her muscles clenching around him.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas leaned closer and pressed his mouth to her ear while he worked his fingers in and out. “No, I’d say it’s just tight enough.” Turning his head to face Iszak over her shoulder, he asked, “Wouldn’t you, brother?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Somewhere behind her, Iszak’s hands had been constantly working, securing her calves and ankles and looping more ropes like tethers to different points all over her body. Now he stopped, and Belah felt his warmth settle between her spread ankles. Iszak’s hands rested against her ass, squeezed, then one hand moved between her legs, tracing the ropes from behind until his fingers met his brother’s, still buried deep inside her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas made no attempt to remove himself, but Iszak didn’t hesitate. His fingertips teased around her opening before pressing into her, two more digits sliding deep.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“So fucking tight.” He fucked his fingers into her with the same rhythm as his brother, the sensation as wonderful as if they’d just filled her with a cock agile enough to rub at all the most sensitive spots inside her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“You have no idea how hard it is not to fuck you right now,” Iszak said into her ear while his fingers continued moving alongside Lukas’s. “My cock wants to be inside you so fucking badly, baby. But you dropped a bomb on us tonight, and you know we can’t just let it go. Make no mistake, it’s going to take us a lot more nights like tonight before we’re square. We’ll give you a break when you understand that you’re not the woman you used to be, because you’re ours now.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Yes … I’m yours,” Belah whispered. She was too drunk on the pleasure they inflicted on her to say more. Her core clenched around them both.</p>
      <p class="subsq">As if to add insult to injury, Lukas bent his head and captured a nipple between his lips, sucking it into his mouth to tease it with his tongue. Iszak’s free hand reached around and pinched her other nipple.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak’s voice continued its deep rumble in her ear. “That’s right, baby, clench that tight pussy around us. I can’t wait to feel you come on my cock like you’re about to come all over our hands. I can feel it building, the more your hot cunt milks us. You want our cocks, don’t you? In this wet little cunt, in your mouth … in your tight ass. We’re going to take you every way we can until we make you beg to stop. If you don’t think dragons could ever beg, I promise you’ll know better after tonight’s over.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“C-can I come?” she stuttered, on the razor’s edge of release, but desperate to please them.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak chuckled, brushing his lips over her bare shoulder.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas released her nipple. “By the Winds, you are perfect.” Lukas gazed down into her eyes. “Please, <i>please</i> come on my hand, baby.” As if to urge her on, he hooked his fingertips inside her and rubbed the pad of his thumb along the engorged flesh of her clit.</p>
      <p class="subsq">She tilted her head back in ecstasy as that fresh jolt of pleasure pushed her beyond the edge of control. As she cried out, someone’s mouth closed over hers, a tongue delved between her lips, and a harsh groan soaked up her cry. Her body tightened between them as they carried her into Nirvana with their expert touch. It was as though they were all flying, but the pair of them were the wings that held her aloft. They were unrelenting, their fingers still fucking into her, urging her on and on. Belah’s orgasm continued to flood through her, the power it carried sinking into them with each spasm of her core around their thrusting fingers.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Finally, they slowed and pulled away. Belah sagged, ready to sink bonelessly into the soft fur of the rug, but surprised to find she was held in place by her bindings. She blinked hazily at Lukas, who sat back on his heels for a second, staring at her in wonder. The hand that he’d used to fuck her rested limp and palm-out on his thigh, still glowing a faint blue from the power that had surged through him and glistening with her juices. His eyes glowed too, but it only took a second before he came to his senses.</p>
      <p class="subsq">He narrowed his gaze and clenched his jaw with grim determination. While she watched, he carefully pulled off his t-shirt, then unfastened his jeans with his dry hand and pulled his thick erection out. Still kneeling in front of her, he wrapped the hand still wet with her juices around his shaft and stroked, coating his entire length in her essence.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas’s aura was a bright cloud around him, swollen and crackling from his arousal and so powerful her skin tingled from his proximity. Behind her, she heard another zipper drop and Iszak’s energy grew to match his brother’s.</p>
      <p class="subsq">With astonishment, she realized they were both bringing themselves off with no intention of touching her and channeling their Nirvana into her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“What are you doing … Lukas, don’t do this. Please touch me.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas only let out a soft groan and set his lips tighter while he stroked faster.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Iszak?” She craned her neck over her shoulder. It was just enough to see him out of the corner of her eye. He stood and moved around to face her with his hand stroking his own cock. She strained at her bindings, knowing she couldn’t easily break free, but sure that if she did, it would be a gross betrayal of their trust. She just wanted to understand—to know if <i>they</i> understood what they were doing to her by withholding their orgasms this way.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Baby, you want to know what’s going through our minds, you go right ahead and look.” Iszak tapped a finger to his forehead. “It’ll save us all a lot of trouble. Our lives are open to you now. Trust me, this hurts us as much as it hurts you, and we want you to feel all of it.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Desperate for some kind of clarity, she closed her eyes and gave her power free rein. As Iszak said, their minds were both wide open to her and all their anger, grief, and sadness on full display. Just as clear was the bright, undeniable presence of their love for her, their true mate. The dark need for retribution had driven them for decades, and they couldn’t easily let it go. They still needed badly to get some kind of closure. Both men knew exactly what they were doing, and despite the pleasure they inflicted on themselves, it tortured them to know they were hurting her by doing it.</p>
      <p class="subsq"><i>Sweet Mother, they don’t want to do this, but know it’s the only way past their hatred of what they’ve known of me their whole lives</i>.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah didn’t object again. She closed her eyes and swallowed her own pain, ignoring the tears that heated her eyelids and spilled over, as hot and salty as the splashes of semen that hit her lips moments later.</p>
      <p class="subsq">With the last vestiges of their auras depleted down to a soft glow, a chasm opened in her soul. Their power had been meant for her, their pleasure a product of the strong need to make love to her. Her soul had instinctively made a space for it, and their acts of denial had left that space an empty, aching void.</p>
      <p class="subsq">There was no denying that she deserved it. They hadn’t deserved their own loss, and it still haunted them. Images of a bloody, reddish-gold feather repeated through their minds, alongside even stronger anger directed at a person who wasn’t her. Her tears stopped flowing at the recognition of that face, and the face of their lost sister juxtaposed with it.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Confused, she opened her eyes to see Lukas squatting naked in front of her, holding up his wadded t-shirt as he began to gently wipe his and Iszak’s spend off her skin.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“But I already told you about Evie, didn’t I? That was why I came here …”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas froze and frowned. “What about Evie? I told you the other night she was dead, and you didn’t say a fucking thing about her then.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah shook her head, trying to remember what had happened in the moments after Lukas and Iszak had returned home—what had she told them before the liquor took its toll and she lost consciousness?</p>
      <p class="subsq">The actual words she’d spoken came back to her and she closed her eyes in shame. “Sweet Mother, I’m so selfish. I wanted to get the darkness out of me so badly, I didn’t think …”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“What, Belah?” Iszak snapped. The ropes above her head jerked hard and she found herself yanked backward. Iszak’s large hand clutched her chin from behind and pulled her head back so she was looking up into his enraged gaze. “What the fuck didn’t you tell us about our sister?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah’s throat was constricted from his grip and a fresh stream of tears fell from the corners of her eyes. His hand at her throat reminded her too much of Nikhil, and part of her responded in a way that shamed her. Iszak immediately released her, his own shame at reacting that way dampening his anger.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I wanted to tell you that she’s <i>alive</i>. I only realized it tonight, when I saw Ozzie playing with you and put it all together. I’ve seen Marcus. His mind was filled with thoughts of her—of Evie—worry for her welfare.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas turned and raked his hands through his hair, cursing and pacing away.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Marcus. The fucking bastard betrayed our sister. The next time I see him, he’s going to fucking wish he’d died.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak came back around to face her, his arms crossed over his chest. “How do you know this? Where is she now?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“We haven’t found her yet, but trust me when I tell you that every Shadow at my disposal—even my own brother, Ked—is out trying to find her now.” Even the ones who had previously been tasked with <i>only</i> searching for her lost children were now hunting for the North sister’s Ultiori prison. But she had no intention mentioning the quest she’d had to put on hold to the two men. She didn’t want their pity.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I don’t understand,” Lukas said. “We were told she was dead, and there’s no way that news could’ve been a lie. Our own <i>grandmother</i> was sure of it …”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak’s eyes narrowed and he turned to his brother. “Nanyo’s the one who gave us the news, brother. Don’t you think she’d have the power to convince us of the truth?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“But we could have <i>found</i> her. Evie’s been a fucking prisoner of those bastards, forced to do Boreas-knows-what for fifty fucking years!”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Lukas,” Belah said gently. “You would have gotten yourselves killed trying to reach her then. You aren’t a match for Nikhil and his Elites. Trust that your grandmother steered you away for the right reasons.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“And what fucking reason is the <i>right</i> reason to leave our own sister in the clutches of those blood-thirsty monsters?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah let out a soft sigh, debating whether to come entirely clean with them. Of course, they would know if she withheld any piece of the truth, anyway.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Because she is my brother’s to find. She is his fated mate. He learned her true identity tonight after hearing your music. I sang her song to him and he knew … that is <i>her</i> song, isn’t it?” She took a breath and softly sang the words to them both.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Both men visibly relaxed, and the darkness coloring their auras lightened. The song helped the knowledge sink in, and Belah sensed hope building within them both. Hope, and the tiniest spark of joy hesitantly rising out of the ashes of their grief.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas was first to move, coming back to her and beginning to tug at the bindings to no avail. “Fuck, we need to get you out of these. Iszak! You’re the knot master. Do I need to get a fucking knife?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah and Iszak regarded each other silently, no words necessary for them both to understand the other. A slow smile spread across Iszak’s face before Belah dipped her head once to acknowledge what passed between them in that moment.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“We’re not untying her, Lukas. At least, not yet. She may be forgiven, but she still has a whole lot of secrets to spill for us.”</p>
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